Pictures                                                                                (Dutch)

Here I have collected and commented some photographs from my private archive.

My mother, about 18 years old, between her grandparents (from mother's side). I still have known my great-grandmother consciously (my great-grandfather died in 1948). This photo was made in the garden of their house in Beverwijk; I stayed there sometimes in the early fifties. What I always find remarkable is the kind of exotic appearance she had when she was young.

My aunt Suze (half-sister of my father; now, in 2012, she is 93 years old), grandmother De Ruiter-Daems (died 1975), my mother (92 years) and my sister Freddie (died 1996), in the garden of our house in the Reinier Claeszenstraat 27 (Amsterdam). This picture must have been taken in the spring of 1944 when Holland was occupied by the Germans. I was born in this house two and a half years later, on the first floor. The history of this house during the war years is perhaps interesting

This picture, taken by press photographer Ben van Meerendonk in 1954, shows me, my father, grandmother De Ruiter-Daems and a steaming kettle on the stove. Also visible next to the stove is a coal-scuttle, something younger people will not or hardly recognize. The picture was taken on the first floor where my family lived and was connected through a internal staircase with the apartment on street-level, where my grandparents lived.

During the fifties we often went on holiday, usually for three or four weeks, to the then small village Eerbeek, which is located in the Veluwe forest, about 100 kilometers east of Amsterdam. We always stayed in the house of the Eeninkwinkel family on the Volmolenweg. Here you see my sister, me and Jopie Eeninkwinkel with the little dog Blacky.

It seemed we always had a party. This picture shows a happy family celebrating the twelve and a half years of marriage of my parents, in 1954. I am sitting in the front row with my aunt Willy. Everybody was still alive...

In 1956 we moved to the so-called garden-town Slotermeer, a new suburb at the outskirts of Amsterdam, near a lake called Sloterplas. This was a profound and almost traumatic change. We had an apartment at the northern side with a beautiful view over the lake. In the terrible winter of 1962-1963 I skated practically every afternoon after school-time on the lake, which exceptionally had frozen completely. Usually, due to its considerable depth (about 40 meters), it did not freeze at all, even with protracted periods of below-zero temperatures. Also in summer the lake played an important role: we swam (normally in the little harbour right in front of my home), or, if we could find and "borrow" a boat, my friends and I made little trips rowing on the lake. On the photo I am sitting in the middle (third from left).

In 1959 I started high school at the Cartesius Lyceum; the final exam Gymnasium β (Classical school) I did in 1965. The picture shows class 2D (1960-1961). I am fourth from the right on the second row, next to the sexy girl. Strangely enough I do not remember her at all, but I do remember the girl with the striped shirt standing next to her on the other side, Jessica Kenter: I was heavily and secretly in love with her. She will never have known this, I presume.

After the Cartesius Lyceum I studied Physics and Astronomy at the University of Amsterdam; after graduation I went to Leiden where I did my Ph. D. in Astronomy in 1978. The thesis had the title "Faint radio sources and their optical identifications" and was based on observations with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. Here you see the final acts of the Ph.D. ceremony. Members of the Committee, sitting behind the table are from the left Dr. P. Katgert, Dr. W.N. Brouw, Prof. J. Dickel, Prof. A. Blaauw, Prof H. van de Laan (my thesis supervisor) and Prof. J.H. Oort. Standing are my "paranimfs", i.e. companions or helpers, with me sitting in between.

I have lived and worked in Bologna, Italy, since about 1980. My first employer was the Institute of Radio Astronomy (IRA); in the period 1989-2009 I worked at the Astronomical Observatory in Bologna, but since 2009 I am back at IRA. Anyway both institutes are now part of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica), which incorporates all astronomical institutes in Italy. This picture was taken on one of my many travels, in July 2001. In the background one can clearly recognize the Grand Canyon.

During the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Sydney (2003), apart from myself and my wife Paola, were present also my daughter Anna (then 12 years old) and my mother. Although my mother was already 83 years she immediately said yes when I proposed, half-seriously, that she come with us. The long travel and our stay in Australia (General Assembly and afterwards trips to Darwin, the Kakadu National Park, and the tropical forest of Queensland) turned out to be no problem at all for her, and when we returned she was less tired than we were. She is now (2017) 97...

Anna caresses our cat Indy, who has taken up her favorite position, behind my laptop.

A characteristic pose of curious Indy, who appears to be very interested in reading.

Paola and Anna in Akrotiri (1999).

Anna en Paola in the French town of Colmar (famous in particular for the altarpiece of Matthias Grünewald). This photo was taken in 2009.

Anna and I on the lake of Anterselva (Antholzer See). Photo taken in 2010.

Anna in a restaurant at Bergama (Pergamon), Turkey, 2008.

On the throne in the theatre of Priene, an ancient Hellenistic town on the Turkish west coast. Priene is surprisingly well preserved. Of course this doesn't mean the houses and temples are still standing like in, for example, Pompei, but its ruins perfectly trace the old city structure (2008)